Hamden residents have begun to see an uptick in crimes involving a firearm since the start of October.
According to the Hamden Police Department, there were three shootings, two armed robberies, and an armed carjacking in the area, all of which occurred since Oct. 14.
“The crime is rising not just in Hamden — the crime is rising in a lot of different places,” said Marco Scauso, an assistant professor of political science at Quinnipiac University.
According to the FBI, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses increased 14.8% and aggravated assault offenses went up 4.6% in the first half of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
Still, some Hamden residents may not realize such crimes are happening so close to their home.
“I feel very safe,” said Bobby Cannon, a 21-year-old Hamden resident. “I’ve lived here for about 17 years, and I know that crimes have been higher as of recent but I feel fine. My only concern really is my car. There’s been a lot of break-ins in my neighborhood (Whitneyville/Ridge Hill) but nobody has been hurt. I don’t feel threatened for my safety though.”
On Oct. 22, there were two armed street robberies and an armed carjacking in the Whitneyville area, which is southern Hamden close to the New Haven border.
Scauso said he’s felt safe since he moved to Hamden about a year and a half ago. He’s raising a family in the town after living in Argentina — where he’s originally from — California, Philippines, Columbia and Indiana.
“I haven’t had any issues, I haven’t had any problems,” Scauso said. I do feel people tend to slightly be on the paranoid side. But I felt safe and happy since we have arrived here.”
Ciaran Flattery, a 21-year-old business major from the Bronx, New York, moved off campus this year. Although he regularly locks his apartment and car, he isn’t too concerned with the recent crime in Hamden.
“Living off campus in Hamden so far I feel safe,” Flattery said. “I’ve never had any issues thankfully. It’s been fine so far, the uptick in crime is a little bit concerning to learn about, but so far I have no issues and I hope other people don’t.”
Scauso said in order to tackle crime you have to tackle inequality and poverty. According to the United States Census, 8.2% of Hamden residents live in poverty. New Haven, which has a population of about 130,000, has a poverty rate of 25.9%. That’s one in every four New Haven residents living in poverty. With Hamden bordering New Haven, some of the New Haven crime dips into Hamden.
“I don’t think an increase in police or an increase in the number of measures necessarily helps in this way because sometimes they mistaken people and put them in jail for silly stuff,” Scauso said. “I think in order to tackle crime we have to think about the interest in inequality and poverty that are increasing right now in this pandemic and financial crisis.”
(With additional reporting by Brendan O’Sullivan)